


An End Once and For All

by dametokillfor



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, M/M, Missing Scene, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-12
Updated: 2012-05-12
Packaged: 2017-11-05 04:58:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/402678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dametokillfor/pseuds/dametokillfor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during 3x22 - The Departed, so spoilers for the episode. </p>
<p>He just wants to be broken a little longer, to deal with this before he has to take on anything else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An End Once and For All

**Author's Note:**

> Written at 2AM, right after watching the finale and crying so much I gave myself a dehydration headache. (And barring series finales, I don't cry at TV shows). 
> 
> Title from the Mass Effect 3 soundtrack song of the same name. Because when I'm in pain, I listen to Clint Mansell to make everything worse.

Damon can’t move. 

He’s still clinging to Alaric’s body, completely unwilling to let him go, even though he knows his friend hasn’t been part of this frame for a long time now. (There was that moment, right at the end, Alaric sounded so scared, where Damon thought maybe, _just maybe_ ). But if he drops the body, life has to go on, has to continue and Alaric stops being a part of it and that’s just not an option.

But then there’s Elena and Alaric’s completely unnatural death can only mean one thing and he _can’t_ lose them both and he _can’t_ think about Elena right now, not with Ric right here. 

He can’t look at him, can’t bear to see the unnatural death he’s been cursed with. He hates himself because he knows it’s all his damn fault. If he hadn’t snapped Ric’s neck or stabbed him or got him into any of these damn messes, Ric would still be here and he and Damon would be antagonizing each other and drinking too much and Damon wouldn’t feel like his heart had been torn from his chest. 

He cries. He doesn’t know how long he just sits there, gripping Alaric’s body like a life preserver to keep him from drowning in the unholy mess. He lets the tears fall, lets the sobs wrack his body, lets himself feel this now because he’s not bringing this pain home with him (though if home is where the heart is, home is right here, right now). 

The year has been hard on the pair of them, their bond has been tested too much, they’ve been pulled apart and broken and it’s a wonder there was anything left of them. But they were supposed to fix things, everything was supposed to be okay and they were supposed to come out of it stronger. This was never on the cards, this was never supposed to happen.

Damon’s phone buzzes along the floor and _fuck_ , he doesn’t want to touch it, doesn’t want to go back and _deal_. He just wants to be broken a little longer, to cope with this before he has to take on anything else. 

But that would mean someone cutting Damon a break and _someone_ never does that. 

He closes his eyes as he leans to press a kiss to Alaric’s lips one last time, can’t bear to look at the greying, cracked flesh of his dearest friend. 

“Goodbye, Ric.”

He takes a deep breath, pushes down all the pain that’s threatening to tear him apart and reaches for the phone.


End file.
